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Reuters: "Pets may not only provide good company for their URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:8:14:00AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:14:00 GMT Reuters[1]: "Pets may not only provide good company for their owners, they may also help lower stress, according to new study findings." [1] http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20020924_315.html

Speaking in Texas this Friday URL: http://boingboing.net/#85490332 Date: Not supplied Just a reminder: I'm speaking at the University of Texas at Austin at 7PM this Friday -- giving a talk on Hollywood's legislative agenda, sponsored by EFF-Austin, ACTLab, and ACLU-Texas. Love to see you there! Link[1] Discuss[2] [1] http://effaustin.org/cory.html [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/DQswgUPGs5Y

A productive thread URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#aProductiveThread Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 00:18:04 GMT "rssflowersalignright"A productive thread[1] on RSS-DEV confronts the negativeness about RSS 2.0[2] head-on. This will go someplace interesting. I left a big hint there in the way the blogChannel module[3] is designed, patterned after the Syndication module[4] designed by the RDF folk. In other words, the place where they're expressing discomfort with RSS 2.0 is where they can make it their own. Lead. Instead of feeling disempowered, be powerful. At one point I saw clearly where the compromise between RSS 0.9x and 1.0 was. We could have gotten there in early 2001, so instead we get there in late 2002. So what, not a big deal. Think about how much better it will be _when we're all advocating the same format._ Visualize peace. That's basically what I did when I did the 2.0 spec. I know it's hard to swallow, but swallow anyway. If I did it, you can too. [1] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rss-dev/message/4032 [2] http://backend.userland.com/rss [3] http://backend.userland.com/blogChannelModule [4] http://web.resource.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/

Public domain superheroes reborn in Tom Strong URL: http://boingboing.net/#85490211 Date: Not supplied Great piece on the pulp comic characters that appear in the new series of Alan Moore's _League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Tom Strong_ (thanks, Zed) funnybook. These characters, like The Terror and The Fighting Yank, are in the public domain because their original publishers didn't register (or renew, it's unclear) their copyright, which means that they've been granted a new lease on life in _Tom Strong_. The article segues into a very good discussion of the public domain. This was just Slashdotted, so it might be a little slow, but it's worth the wait. Link[1] Discuss[2] (_via /.[3]_) [1] http://www.newsarama.com/public.html [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/MfCE7BXSmJdzp [3] http://slashdot.org

[IMG: http://radio.weblogs.com/0001015/images/2002/09/25/uncSamMedium.gif URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:5:39:47AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:39:47 GMT [IMG: http://radio.weblogs.com/0001015/images/2002/09/25/uncSamMedium.gif (A picture named uncSamMedium.gif)][1]Last year on this day[2]: "It's been not-correct for most of my life for Americans to say we love our country. That's a big bug. We're the world's greatest country and we know it. I love the USA. It gave me life, an education, role models and a philosophy. And if you think we're stupid or decadent, just try fucking with us." [1] http://www.scripting.com/images/2001/09/22/uncleSam.jpg [2] http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2001/09/25#bushAndTheDoves

WiFi Trek badges URL: http://boingboing.net/#85490092 Date: Not supplied Brian sez: Vocera Communications has developed what is essentially a Star Trek: TNG-style lapel communicator device that uses WiFi to transmit voice across networks. The Vocera Communications System consists of Vocera Server Software, residing on a customer premise server, and Vocera Communications Badges, which operate over a wireless LAN (802.11b). The badge - which weighs less than 2 ounces - includes a microphone and speaker, LCD readout to display text messages, and an 802.11b wireless radio. It can be clipped to a shirt pocket or collar, or worn on a lanyard. Link[1] Discuss[2] (_Thanks, Brian[3]!_) [1] http://www.vocera.com/news/press9.shtm [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/F4SLvqGh6XW [3] http://brian.carnell.com

Daypop is back. _Ye-hi._ URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:6:31:40PM Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 01:31:40 GMT Daypop[1] is back. _Ye-hi._ [1] http://www.daypop.com/top/

Fred Grott: How to Keep RDF and RSS Straight. URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:5:36:11AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:36:11 GMT Fred Grott: How to Keep RDF and RSS Straight[1]. [1] http://www.diaries.com/ShareMe/2002/09/24

Medical notes URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#medicalNotes Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:49:48 GMT Mixed news from yesterday's heart checkup. First, I went seven minutes on the treadmill. That was pretty good. My heart was racing like it hadn't since I was in college. They also did an extensive ultrasound on my carotid arteries[1], they're in the neck and supply my head with blood. More good news there. They're clear, free of plaque, healthy, not diseased[2]. So it appears I just have coronary artery disease, not general artery disease. That's good because there would be a risk of stroke if they were sick, and not a whole lot they can do about it (as they can with the heart). Now there was some not-good news. A small part of my heart isn't working very well. There are a few possible reasons for that, some fixable, some not. I asked the doctor, does this mean I'm going to die sooner, and he said no. Does it mean I have to restrict what I do, he said no. So what does it mean? Really not much, other than I should watch, as before, for recurring symptoms, the ones that brought me into the hospital in June. If they come back, we'll do an angiogram, and maybe an angioplasty, but the likelihood of another bypass because of this is small. That's quite a relief. I don't like the idea of part of my heart not working, but what can you do about it? [1] http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=carotid+arteries&spell=1 [2] http://www.vascularweb.org/doc/190

Jon Hanna, on the RSS-DEV list, says that RSS, was "not designed URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:6:25:23AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:25:23 GMT Jon Hanna, on the RSS-DEV list, says[1] that RSS, was "not designed to be of any particular use to bloggers, aggregators, or metadata providers." This is not true. Half of RSS 0.91 was scriptingNews format[2], which was totally designed to model a weblog in XML. [1] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rss-dev/message/4023 [2] http://my.userland.com/stories/storyReader$11

Ed Cone: "The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:12:25:19PM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 19:25:19 GMT Ed Cone[1]: "The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing on 'Piracy of Intellectual Property on Peer-to-Peer Networks' at 9AM., Thursday, September 26, (2141 Rayburn House Office Building). The Berman-Coble bill will be discussed. The hearings are open to the press." [1] http://radio.weblogs.com/0107946/2002/09/25.html#a187

Gracie Allen: "Never put a period where God has placed a comma." URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:3:23:55PM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 22:23:55 GMT Gracie Allen[1]: "Never put a period where God has placed a comma." [1] http://www.inspirationpeak.com/archives/2001/012301.html

Great email from the RIAA's Hillary Rosen to execs at Yahoo, URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:5:34:49AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:34:49 GMT Great email[1] from the RIAA's Hillary Rosen to execs at Yahoo, Real, AOL and Microsoft, on how to crack down on the millions of Morpheus and Kazaa users. Is this for real? [1] http://www.dotcomscoop.com/article.php?sid=40

Wired: "Stronger ties between ISPs and file-trading companies URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:8:33:10AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:33:10 GMT Wired[1]: "Stronger ties between ISPs and file-trading companies could bolster Kazaa's defenses." [1] http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,55356,00.html

Ben Silverman, the publisher of Dotcom Scoop, says the Rosen URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:7:04:44AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 14:04:44 GMT Ben Silverman, the publisher of Dotcom Scoop, says the Rosen email is real, and part of a confidential internal memo[1] that outlines the RIAA's legal strategy re Kazaa, Music City and Grokster. [1] http://www.dotcomscoop.com/article.php?sid=39

p2p is not a crime URL: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/000615 Date: 2002-09-25T17:11:31-06:00 You can see Cory Doctorow explain the problems with the Berman Bill while his host subscribes to the EFF Action Center on TechTV[1] if you've got Windows Media Player. If you're on Windows, you can also hear them. (The Mac version doesn't seem to have the codec for the sound.) [IMG: http://www.archive.org/images/P1010028-s.jpg][2] The Internet Archive Bookmobile, starring the Kahles[3]. Seth[4]: "I had a dream that I went to D.C. to hear the Eldred argument and also dropped by a party to celebrate it. [...] y dream Supreme Court was definitely going to reverse the court below, if only because the Solicitor General in my dream had hardly found anything good to say about the CTEA. _ Adsit omen! _" Donna of Copyfight linked to my fair use notes[5]. An archived stream of the Tauzin hearing will be available soon[6]. [1] http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/opinion/story/0,24330,3399006,00.html [2] http://www.archive.org/images/P1010028-m.jpg [3] http://www.kahle.org/Brewster/ [4] http://vitanuova.loyalty.org/2002-09-24.html [5] http://www.corante.com/copyfight/20020901.shtml#7432 [6] http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/hearings/09252002Hearing719/hearing.htm

John Robb: "Yesterday, AT&T upgraded my cable box to a digital URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#When:5:24:45AM Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:24:45 GMT John Robb[1]: "Yesterday, AT&T upgraded my cable box to a digital system." [1] http://jrobb.userland.com/2002/09/25.html#a2595

FOAF explorer URL: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2002/09/25.html#foaf_explorer Date: 2002-09-25T18:18:53-05:00 Morten Frederiksen has taken a first stab at a real-time social network explorer based on FOAF files. You could start on my profile[1] and explore from there, or enter the URL of your own FOAF file (at the bottom of the page). It's heavy on tech details, but you can easily see the potential here. (It's also a great way to debug your FOAF file, if you added anything manually.) Now we need somebody to build a spider that follows foaf:knows links and draws pretty social network diagrams, so we can see the forest for the trees. [1] http://xml.mfd-consult.dk/foaf/?foaf=http%3A%2F%2Fdiveintomark.org%2Fpublic%2Ffoaf.rdf

Maps URL: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2002/09/25.html#maps Date: 2002-09-25T10:45:15-05:00 _Mark Tosczak_: A New Way to Read, Not See, Maps[1]. “The map-navigation software, dubbed Blind Audio Tactile Mapping System ... takes digital map information and provides nonvisual feedback as a user moves a cursor across the map.” [1] http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,54916,00.html

Plan URL: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2002/09/25.html#plan Date: 2002-09-25T10:43:06-05:00 _Paul Ford_: Falling Off a Truck[1]. “In the last 4 days I fell off a truck and was dragged for 30 feet, and was interviewed by an NPR show. Those two facts are not related except that they both happened to me and made me queasy. I also wrote a short plan outlining the rest of my life.” [1] http://ftrain.com/recent_update_etc.html

Dabba Wallahs: India's meal-delivery FedEx URL: http://boingboing.net/#85494359 Date: Not supplied Amazing story about the "dabba wallahs" -- India's 112-year-old meal-delivery system that outdoes FedEx using pictograms, bicycles, and largely illiterate (but well-compensated) deliverypeople: As part of the tiffin distribution process, every day the meals are picked up from commuters' homes in Mumbai long after the commuters have left for work, delivered to them on time, then picked up and delivered home before the commuters return. Each tiffin carrier has, painted on its top, a number of symbols that identify where the carrier was picked up, the originating and destination stations and the address to which it is to be delivered. After the tiffin carriers are picked up, they are taken to the nearest railway station, where they are sorted according to the destination station. At the destination station they are unloaded by other dabba wallahs and re-sorted, this time according to street address and floor. The 80 kg crates of carriers, carried on dabba wallahs' heads, hand-wagons and cycles are delivered at 12.30 p.m., picked up at 1.30 p.m., and returned when they came. The system relies on multiple relays of dabba wallahs, and a single tiffin box may change hands up to three times during its journey from home to office. Link[1] Discuss[2] (_Thanks, Tom!_) [1] http://in.news.yahoo.com/020920/43/1vfdw.html [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/H96NaZc8PTyq

Missing the Point URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85471617 Date: Not supplied A lot of people seem to be missing the point of Phoenix, as evidenced by the responses on Mozilla News[1] and MozillaZine[2]. Let me emphasize something here: if you think Mozilla's current UI is acceptable, then you are clearly not the target audience for Phoenix. Here is a quiz to test whether or not Phoenix is the right browser for you. - The link toolbar is: - critical to my day-to-day use - vital when using Bugzilla! Doesn't everybody use Bugzilla? - link what? - The sidebar is - indispensable since i run at 1600x1200 resolution - not cool enough, since i can't float and dock all my panels and have splitters between all panels and see web page progress for individual HTML panels and check my email entirely from within sidebar and... - a waste of real estate - Form auto-fill - is not useful for me unless I can fill out 20 pages of personal information first - should just happen automatically - Downloads - should take place in a tree view with progress meters in the columns! - should be clearly visible and understandable. - Toolbars should - be dockable to all four corners of the screen, be able to float outside the window, be fully customizable such that I can make my own custom commands, be able to edit existing buttons' commands, be able to create my own toolbars, be able to put toolbars on the same line, and be able to edit the submenus and context menus of items (including the items on the menu bar) and browse my file system and cook me dinner and wash my car and walk my dog and do my taxes and mow my lawn and... - be customizable within reason - Composer should - always come with my browser. I want composer options all over my UI. Everywhere! - not be part of a Web browser. - Mail should - be part of my browser program. Aren't they the same app? There is a difference? - be a separate application. Now to those people who want the full-blown functionality of the Mozilla trunk, you can still get that with Phoenix. The idea is to relegate more features to the "optional add-on" category. If you want the link toolbar or the sidebar or mouse gestures or any other features, you can download and install them yourself. I expect Phoenix will have a little add-in manager that will facilitate this process. There is currently an expectation on the part of an alarming number of people that every feature implemented by anyone should automatically be part of the default Mozilla install/download. Why? A layered approach scales better. You can then have a browser that can become as complex as you want to make it, but the choice is left in your hands. The geek features aren't inflicted on you by default. Finally, remember that Phoenix's UI is not controlled by Netscape. This is an opportunity for some of the core Mozilla Navigator developers to build the browser that they have always wanted to build, without having to compromise the user interface to satisfy the various conflicting pressures exerted by factions within Netscape. [1] http://www.mozillanews.org [2] http://www.mozillazine.org

A Line in the Sand URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85443841 Date: Not supplied Bug 22056 has to do with enabling different toolbar modes. It's a pretty basic browser feature that has been missing from Navigator for years. Even simplified browsers like Chimera have this feature. Neil did some excellent work in 22056 and his code finally landed. It naturally spiked startup time and window time slightly, and so it ended up being backed out because of Mozilla's no tolerance policy for regressions. While this "line in the sand" policy is in many ways a good one, I feel like it misses the point. There is a natural tendency when designing applications to add features in every new version of the software. Only rarely do you see features removed. With each passing version, you get more and more bloated, relying on faster machines and more memory to save the day. Who cares if the user interface is now full of 3000 menu items? You still support every last feature since version 1.0, so no customers can possibly be dissatisfied! You can really only cram so many features into a product before its size requirements and performance requirements have to change. This is an obvious rule. It's like you start with an empty elevator that says "Capacity: 10 people." The elevator stops at the first floor (version 1.0) and a bunch of people (features) get on. Continuing on its journey, the elevator stops at the second floor, and still more people get on. The elevator is now full, and it continues to the third floor (version 3.0). Unfortunately the elevator is full, but there are a bunch of people waiting at the third floor to get on. Some of them squeeze in anyway, past the fat person from the first floor (the Mozilla sidebar feature) who is taking up enough space for 3 people. Everyone wishes he'd get off at the third floor or even the fourth floor, but he doesn't. Someone (the Mozilla wallet feature) from the second floor cuts one on the way to the third floor, so he's useless, and everyone wishes he'd get off too. He doesn't though. Nobody does. People keep piling in at floor after floor, until eventually the elevator support cable snaps and everybody dies. We need to forcibly eject people from the elevator. Remove the features that nobody wants and replace them with the features that matter. Cull out the features that didn't work in Mozilla 1.0 and make sure they aren't there in Mozilla 2.0. Make more of the features optional plugins so that geeks who want some of the more obscure features (and that have powerhouse machines) can go download them on their own. Only if we actively fight the trend towards bloat will we finally produce an awesome Mozilla browser.

Duct-tapers -- suspension and bondage fetish goes mainstream URL: http://boingboing.net/#85494705 Date: Not supplied [IMG: http://www.craphound.com/images/tapedup.jpg] Duct-tapers are mainstream bondage fetishists who tape each other up to walls and ceilings "just to see if it will hold." Pervs. Link[1] Discuss[2] (_Thanks Steve[3]!_) [1] http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/walltapings/index.html [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/pG33EGvsJQ8 [3] http://www.mindspring.com/~steve.portigal

Thunder Stealing URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85399441 Date: Not supplied Tony Davis wrote in his blog: _All Mozilla did is steal Netscape's thunder. _ True, but if Netscape had actually bothered to put valuable additions into its product, then that wouldn't have happened. Similarly, if Netscape hadn't taken away valuable features from Mozilla, then maybe people would actually want to use Netscape over Mozilla.

Usability Problems with Mozilla URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85409355 Date: Not supplied Blake blogs[1] about how mpt[2] wants Mozilla to look just like MSIE. I have to admit, the evidence is pretty compelling. I recall someone asking me, "Do you really agree with mpt's Top 10 list? He's quoted you at the top of the list!" Do I agree that those ten items mpt mentions are the top ten problems? Of course not. No two people will have the same top ten problems. Also keep in mind that mpt and I can agree that something is a problem without necessarily agreeing on the solution to the problem. Maybe we have different ideas regarding how to solve a particular issue, but we at least both believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed. That's something. To cover the list specifically: - Navigator chrome structure - While I don't necessarily agree with mpt's proposed default configuration, I do agree that the chrome structure is painfully restrictive, and that customizable toolbars need to be implemented in order for us to acquire the flexibility to deal with this problem. - Speed - can't argue with this, except to say that cutting out a lot of the useless UI and features from the chrome helps substantially. Reduce bloat, gain speed. - Text editing - if you use Chimera on the Mac, you'll see that the textfield widget is easily the most painful part of the entire application. It's buggy, slow, misbehaves, and doesn't edit the way you'd expect. This is IMO Chimera's top usability problem. - Message display - Yes. No argument here. - Search - Yeah, it's a mess. Don't know if it would be in my top ten, but it's a mess. - Menu structure - This gets back to my blog about how the apps should be separated. The menu structure has been complicated in order to deal with multiple applications. A clean separation naturally simplifies the menus (e.g., you can eliminate the New submenu easily). - Migration - A problem, but IMO not one of the top ten facing Mozilla. - Context menus - mpt complains about two-click context menus, and yet, the OS default on Win32 (overwhelmingly) is to bring up a context menu on a mouse up. If you don't like it, complain about Win32, but don't cite this as a Mozilla usability problem when we're following the conventions of the operating system. (We simply listen for the WM_CONTEXTMENU message. That message fires when Win32 wants to fire it.) - Validation - Err, no. Not a usability problem. To the average bear, this is completely irrelevant. - Preferences - IMO this should be much higher on the list. Preferences are a tangled pathetic mess. Again, separating prefs for individual apps into unique dialogs would simplify things a great deal, but we should also remove nearly half the preferences that exist from the GUI. Mozilla is ridiculously overconfigurable. [1] http://www.blakeross.com/archives/2002_08_18_index.html#80418641 [2] http://mpt.phrasewise.com

Gearheads and bunnyhuggers in the OED URL: http://boingboing.net/#85494694 Date: Not supplied Some of the words in the new shorter Oxford English Dictionary: Asylum seeker, economic migrant, bed-blocking, and stakeholder pension reflect the serious side of life; bunny-hugger (a conservationist or animal lover), chick flick (a film appealing to women), gearhead (a car enthusiast), and Grinch (a spoilsport or killjoy) are entries in a more light-hearted vein. Several entries are testaments to the popularity of science fiction, among them Tardis from the TV series Doctor Who, Jedi from Star Wars, and Klingon from Star Trek. Link[1] Discuss[2] (_Thanks, Mark!_) [1] http://www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/wordfrom/shorter/ [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/2tC5tCQqCRD3b

We're trying to decide if FogBUGZ 3.0 should support custom URL: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020912.html Date: Not supplied We're trying to decide if FogBUGZ[1] 3.0 should support custom fields. Historically, I am opposed to custom fields in principle, because they get abused. People add so many fields to their bug databases to capture everything they think might be important that entering a bug is like applying to Harvard. End result: people don't enter bugs, which is much, much worse than not capturing all that information. You can always "page fault" to get the information if the original report forgot it. Rather than having a field in every bug where you enter the version numbers of every DLL on your machine (this is an actual customer request), information which is likely to be relevant only for a tiny percentage of bugs, why not just have the programmer-assignee look at the bug first, and if they think it might be dll-version-related, only _then_ bounce the bug back to the originator asking for the DLL info? Similarly, it's always tempting to add a field in which you ask for the OS version in which the bug occurred. This sounds logical, but trust me: adding fields like this is guaranteed to do one thing and one thing only: reduce the number of bug reports that get into the system in the first place. Only a small percentage of bugs are really OS dependant and you can always include that info in the text description of the bug if it happens to be relevant. (But then how do you search for, say, all bugs which only happen on Windows 98SE? Aha! You can't. Ever. Even with the custom field. Because not every bug has been regressed on every version of every operating system, so this search doesn't make sense in the first place. The info wasn't captured. Do a full text search for 98SE and you'll find some of them. Life is imperfect.) Life would be more perfect if every bug report included megabytes of information -- a complete dump of every byte on the hard drive and in RAM on the computer in question and while you're at it, a photograph of the tester's workspace. But the goal of a bug tracking database is to _keep track of bugs_, which, all else being equal, takes priority over making it easy to find them. I have heard countless stories of development teams where the bug tracking package was so high-ceremony that people were afraid to enter bugs in the system, because they didn't know what all those fields were. The _real_ bug-"tracking" happened in email, post-its, and hallway conversations. Great. A pretty common question we get on the customer service line is, "does FogBUGZ support custom fields?" Rather than giving our usual answer ("no. on purpose.") over the last few weeks I've been saying, "can you please tell me what fields you would need? We're trying to decide whether to implement that feature in 3.0 and we want to know why people need it." The interesting thing is, almost all of the fields people ask for _are already in FogBUGZ,_ and the other ones, in my educated opinion, shouldn't be fields. And in fact, our existing customers are certainly happy without custom fields. One of our biggest site licenses was sold to a semiconductor company, and I myself wanted to add a custom field for them to keep track of versions of the circuit design, but I didn't, and they never needed it (even though they had been keeping track of it with the old bug tracking package which had custom fields), and they are happy and keep buying more site licenses. But the dilemma for us is that many customers are evaluating bug tracking software and they consider the lack of custom fields to be a major weakness in our product. "Gosh, even Filemaker has custom fields." Righto. It's true. And who am I to tell my customers they are wrong? One person who I was talking to yesterday would have used a custom field for something that we already have a built-in field for. This would have made their database confusing and inconsistent and would have definitely caused more problems than it solved. But it's still rude of me to tell customers that we don't have that feature _for their own good_, even though it usually is, and we're losing some sales because of it. Sigh. I guess we could have a custom fields feature but hide it and make it so hard to use that people don't use it. At least we won't lose any sales :) [1] http://www.fogcreek.com/FogBUGZ

Eddie Kessler describes programming at Napster. Ray Ozzie has URL: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020925.html Date: Not supplied Eddie Kessler describes programming at Napster[1]. Ray Ozzie has more on platforms[2]. "Finding the 'right' price point for a software platform is critical." To me this sounds like a fancy way of saying, "I groove all that stuff about how platforms need to be cheap and ubiquitous, but I can't bring myself to do it." The price, Ray says, "must be high enough both 1) to maintain a perception of value in the platform, and 2) to create significant margins well before ubiquity is assured so that the ecosystem is assured of the platform's ultimate viability." What he doesn't mention: if you lower the price on the only product you're selling, you have a revenue hit, which will not make your investors happy, and you may run out of money and have to close. But that must be what he's thinking. [1] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/WorstProjectEver.html [2] http://www.ozzie.net/blog/stories/2002/09/24/softwarePlatformDynamics.html

Validation URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85395270 Date: Not supplied I feel so tremendously validated right now in all my criticisms of Netscape vs. Mozilla. I told Netscape management that if the Netscape beta shipped without popup blocking that CNet would write an article on it. They didn't believe me (or didn't care). Sure enough, the article appeared right on time[1]. I blogged about two main annoyances when installing Netscape 7: the lack of popup blocking and all of the annoying advertising spam on the desktop and in the toolbars. I warned Netscape that they needed to take steps to correct this problem. They didn't listen. Take a look at the CNet review[2] highlight that describes *The Bad* part of Netscape 7.0: _Displays AOL ads everywhere; doesn't let you turn off pop-up windows like Mozilla does; devours 30MB of disk space._ Plenty of other engineers at Netscape (as well as managers) complained about these problems and fought with those higher up to correct these problems. We lost every battle. The simple truth is that the people in charge of running the Netscape browser are incompetent. They don't understand how to make a good browser, or they don't care. Their engineers tell them what they're doing wrong, and they don't listen. Maybe you'll listen to the public. How about eWeek's article, Netscape 7.0 Shrivels Under Mozilla's Shadow[3]? Are you paying attention now, you ignorant, stupid, incompetent buffoons? "I told you so." never felt so good. Maybe they will sit up and take notice now. If they do, well, it's about fucking time. And people wonder why I quit working for AOL. [1] http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949572.html?tag=fd_lede [2] http://www.cnet.com/software/0-3227883-8-20331576-1.html?tag=st.sw.8888.boxhl.3227883-8-20331576-1 [3] http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,493248,00.asp

Jakob Nielsen on Offshore Usability: "To save costs, some URL: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020917.html Date: Not supplied Jakob Nielsen on Offshore Usability[1]: "To save costs, some companies are outsourcing Web projects to countries with cheap labor. Unfortunately, these countries lack strong usability traditions and their developers have limited access -- if any -- to good usability data from the target users." Offshore usability is a specific case of the general "offshore design" problem. Put simply, software teams are not successful when design or management are done in a different physical location than programming. Once I actually had a job where I was in New York, my direct manager was in Singapore, _his_ manager was in Hyderabad, and if I needed any management input I had literally no choice but to go to the CEO because at least he was awake during the same hours as I was. You can't get things done like this. A good project team relies on hundreds of small interactions a day. Here in the Fog Creek offices, we have 10 small conversations about FogBUGZ 3.0 development every day. What I don't understand is people who think it's OK to move the developers ten time zones away from their managers and expect good results. Those same people would scream bloody murder if you told them that you were going to send the whole _management_ team to Bangalore or Beijing. [1] http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020916.html

John Robb has an interesting perspective on trust-based, URL: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020913.html Date: Not supplied John Robb has an interesting perspective on trust-based, targetted advertising [1] based on his experiences at Gomez during the heady days of the Internet gold rush. Nobody believes advertisements[2] any more. There's a lot of evidence that advertising just doesn't work, no matter how targetted, so if you have a product to sell you have no choice but to get into the editorial side, where consumers' defenses are lowered. Product placements are one example of this. There is an unfortunate tragedy of the commons, here. When advertising first rose to prominence, advertisements _did_ work. We hadn't built up our immunities yet. As more and more advertisers used the opportunity of the medium to lie, we learned not to trust advertisements. But we still trust editorial. And once editorial gets polluted by desperate marketers using PR instead of advertising to promote their message, nobody will believe it either. [1] http://jrobb.userland.com/stories/2002/09/11/trustbasedAdvertising.html [2] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060081988/ref=nosim/joelonsoftware

More fun with the PTC URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85378428 Date: Not supplied I received some feedback in email (from several of you actually) regarding my earlier blog about the Parents Television Council[1], which recently published a report in which they labeled Buffy as the worst show on television for children. Let me clarify why this organization bothers me so much. Buffy as a show is clearly inappropriate for children under 12, and a game like GTA3 is as well. The PTC, however, has a clear agenda that goes beyond simply warning parents about the dangers of television shows or video games. There is a belief on the part of the PTC that the hour from 8-9pm (the first hour of primetime) must be designated a family hour, and that no offensive shows should air during that time. I don't believe that it's the networks' responsibility to restrict the kind of content aired during a particular hour of television. The shows that air during primetime run the gamut; some are family-oriented and some aren't. There is, however, no shortage of suitable content should parents and children wish to watch TV together during this hour. It should be the parent's responsibility to police a child's television viewing. If you don't want your kids watching _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, then don't let them, but don't campaign to have the show removed from the air or shoved into a late hour that would only result in its cancellation just because you don't like its content. If you don't think a show is appropriate, don't let your kids watch it. The PTC also seems to find shows offensive that are family-oriented. An example of one such show is _Malcolm in the Middle_. I would hardly call this show inappropriate for kids. Apparently the only shows that the PTC deems appropriate are those that have been sanitized to match their ultra-conservative agenda. Even then, I wouldn't really mind, but the idea that all other shows must be relegated to some later hour is just ludicrous. [1] http://www.parentstv.org/

Photoshop the worlds ugliest truck URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8274140,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T12:27:22+01:00 (Some Ugly Guy)

Photoshop this squirrel tuning in, turning on, and dropping out URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8269407,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T09:23:43+01:00 (Some Stoner)

Teens videotape themselves shooting stapleguns into their arms URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8269406,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T09:23:44+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/bostonglobe.gif ([BostonGlobe])]

Daniel Berlinger has noticed that Mac software shops are starting URL: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020910.html Date: Not supplied Daniel Berlinger has noticed[1] that Mac software shops are starting to move to OS X-only development. This makes sense, for two reasons. First, most people who pay for software have new computers. So while OS X may only have a small fraction of the installed base, it has the majority of the population of people who are opening their wallets. Second, if OS X isn't successful, the Mac is _ over_. It's not like System 9 is getting any more popular. Then again, there are very few conditions under which it is actually the right business decision to develop software for the Macintosh. Developing for the Mac is not a whole lot different than creating a web site _that only works on Netscape_. (Given the market share of Macs[2] (about 3.5%) and the market share of Netscape[3] (about 3.4%), that is not a silly comparison.) Robb Beal wrote[4]: "Try this test. Go to a venture firm, angel, or big company with a Mac OS X product/concept/prototype. Do they consider the fact that it's a Mac application a net plus? (No.)" Well _duh_. Your product would have to appeal to _25 times more Mac _users_ _[as a percentage] than Windows users just to break even. In other words, if your Windows product appeals to 1 in 100 Windows users, you have to appeal to 25 in 100 Mac users to make the same amount of money. Now, you may want to make an _emotional_ appeal to developing for the Mac. That's fine. If you like Macs and you're doing it for fun, more power to ya. But as long as we're talking _investment_, you have to tell me why you're going to get 25 times as many users. Maybe there's less competition in your category on the Mac; maybe you're in a niche like graphics where it seems like Macs dominate (they don't, it just seems that way because the elite graphics people in big American cities use Macs); maybe your product can't sell to mixed environments unless it runs everywhere. But if you want to make an investment in Mac software be prepared to demonstrate how you're going to overcome that magic 25 multiplier. [1] http://archipelago.phrasewise.com/2002/09/10 [2] http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0207/03.marketshare.php [3] http://websidestory.com/cgi-bin/wss.cgi?corporate&news&press_1_193 [4] http://radio.weblogs.com/0001123/2002/04/10.html

Peruvian congressman has challenged his Vice President to a duel. URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8268032,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T08:22:37+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/yahoonews.gif ([Yahoo])]

Movie Quiz URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85377159 Date: Not supplied Test your knowledge with this set of movie quotes. I'll be back in a couple of days with the answers. - Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away? - Any fool can get into college. Only a select few can say the same about Amanda Jones. - My dear, since Eve picked the apple, no woman has ever been taken entirely unawares. - This is Tommy. He tells people he's named after a gun, but I know he's named after a famous 19th century ballerina. - When one woman strikes at the heart of another she seldom misses, and the wound is invariably fatal. - I've never been alone with a man before, even with my dress on. With my dress off, it's _most_ unusual. - You're nothing to me now. You're not a brother, you're not a friend. I don't want to know you or what you do. I don't want to see you at the hotels, I don't want you near my house. When you see our mother, I want to know a day in advance, so I won't be there. - Kids: 10 seconds of joy, 30 years of misery. - Sucking all the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone. - A hundred million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister. - Mother, I do not need a blind date. Particularly not with some verbally incontinent spinster who drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney and dresses like her mother. - Have you ever seen a body like this before in your life? She happens to be my daughter. Oh. Then I guess you have. - I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is. - Of course, you won't be able to lie on your back for a while but then you can lie from any position, can't you? - The fact that you prevented it from happening doesn't change the fact that it was going to happen. - Women need a reason for having sex. Men just need a place. - You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else. - Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue! - The issue is not whether you are paranoid. Look around you Lenny. The issue is whether you are paranoid enough. - Inconceivable! You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Enjoy.

Michael Jordan may announce he's coming back to play. Dead horse URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8256507,1717/ Date: 2002-09-25T23:11:07+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/msnbc2.gif ([MSNBC])]

Conversations From GDC Europe: Bill Fulton, Zeno Colaco, Harvey Smith URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,7764729,159/ Date: 2002-09-11T22:41:04+01:00 In the second of our series from the GDC Europe, we talk with Microsoft's Bill Fulton about usability testing for games, SCEE's Zeno Colaco about pitching publishers, and Harvey Smith of Ion Storm about emergent game design.

Do you have a handlebar moustache? Then the Handlebar Club is the URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8256508,1717/ Date: 2002-09-25T23:11:06+01:00 (Some Gentleman)

Why marching is crucial URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8278079,215/ Date: 2002-09-26T14:43:59+01:00 *Comment:* The success of the mass demonstrations against the Vietnam war show why this Saturday's Stop the War march is so important, says *Paul Foot*.

A Non-Integer Power Function on the Pixel Shader URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,6436947,159/ Date: 2002-08-01T09:04:55+01:00 This feature, excerpted from Wolfgang Engel's ShaderX book from Wordware Publishing, presents a simple shader trick that performs a good per pixel approximation of a non-integer power function. The technique works for input values between 0 and 1 and supports large exponents. The presented shader does not require any texture look-up and is scalable, making it possible to spend more instructions in order to decrease the error or to reach greater exponents.

Fall in value of mortgages indicates housing slowdown URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8276089,215/ Date: 2002-09-26T13:42:55+01:00 *Money:* Further evidence of a slowdown in the housing market emerged today as figures revealed a 15% drop in the total value of mortgages approved during August.

Titan to be probed. Saturn to offer post probe cigarette URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8268033,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T08:22:36+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/scotsman.gif ([The Scotsman])]

<strong>More AmphetaDesk Reviews</strong> URL: e59c6ca5938fc27a6995e30fc10b6482 Date: Not supplied It came out a while ago, but Ben Hammersley reviewed AmphetaDesk and a few other free aggregators in his Guardian article, Working the web: Newsreaders[1] . In more timely news, OSDir[2], a repository of "stable, open source apps", has reviewed AmphetaDesk[3] and labels it an 'OSDir.com preferred' app. They also give you the ability to rate AmphetaDesk[4] on a scale of 1-10. You can see the current rating here[5]. [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,781838,00.html [2] http://www.osdir.com/ [3] http://osdir.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=34&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 [4] http://osdir.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=ratedownload&lid=28&ttitle=%3Ch3%3EShow%20Your%20Support%20for%20Amphetadesk%3C/h3%3E %3Ch3%3EShow%20Your%20Support%20for%20Amphetadesk%3C/h3%3E" [5] http://osdir.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownloaddetails&lid=28&ttitle=AmphetaDesk AmphetaDesk"

the walls are alive with the sound of insects URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=60761 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=60761

<strong>Two New AmphetaDesk Hacks</strong> URL: 4538e94b3b2c6b19041756b37b1f9916 Date: Not supplied Since the AmphetaDesk source code is so easily modifiable on any platform, I've been seeing some interesting hacks and modifications lately. The most powerful of them is l.m. orchard's newest template[1], which provides an insane amount of new features, including hiding old items, click counting, and an outline based format. More than likely, a revised version of his hack will appear as a selectable template in the next version (AmphetaDesk v0.94). Also of interest is Brian Cantoni's FTPStore[2]: _"FTPstore is a slight addition to the AmphetaDesk news aggregator. The modified code will retrieve the personal channel list from an FTP location during startup and store it back to the same location during shutdown. This provides a simple method to keep your saved channels in a network location. If you use AmphetaDesk at home and at work, for example, this feature will let you keep your list of channels in sync."_ It's a major improvement for AmphetaDesk users with multiple machines. [1] http://www.decafbad.com/news_archives/000228.phtml [2] http://www.cantoni.org/software/amphetadesk.html

the captain has turned off the "no hittin' it" sign URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=58104 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=58104

The Roacheteer? Jonny Roachpack? URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=54458 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=54458

that's bullshit URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=49760 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=49760

quality subversion URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=52887 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=52887

the Hello Kitty vibrator has competition URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=48393 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=48393

Yahoo Finance RSS Beta URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000187.html Date: 2002-09-23T11:47:57-08:00 Got a stock ticker for which you'd like to have an RSS news feed? Help test the beta RSS feeds we've put up o Yahoo Finance. Take your favorite ticker, say YHOO, and put this URL in your news aggregator:...

"KICK ME" URL: http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=48335 Date: Not supplied http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=jwz&itemid=48335

Female circumcision does not reduce sexual activity URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-2,8206955,1440/ Date: Not supplied Nigerian researchers say their study negates arguments used to defend the practice, which is still widespread in Africa

ru stupid URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000185.html Date: 2002-09-19T22:30:15-08:00 Dan thinks it is evolution. To me it's stupidity, laziness, and apathy. I have to respectfully disagree. Or maybe I'm just being stubborn. For whatever reason, whenever I get e-mail from someone who: Writes "ur" instead of "you are" or...

Tough Earth bug may be from Mars URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8251864,1440/ Date: Not supplied A hardy microbe that can withstand huge doses of radiation is most likely to have evolved this ability on the Red Planet, argue scientists

Iraq invasion could 'worsen terrorist threat' URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8015194,1440/ Date: Not supplied An influential think tank warns that "regime change" could disperse weapons stockpiles into the murky world of global terrorism

Africa's deserts are in "spectacular" retreat URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8015193,1440/ Date: Not supplied A new analysis of satellite images shows regeneration of once arid lands across the southern Sahara, making farming viable again

Parasites may sap male longevity URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8052858,1440/ Date: Not supplied Males suffer more parasitic infections than females - this could help explain why they die younger, say researchers

Ultrasound blood purifier tackles fat problem URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-2,8199104,1440/ Date: Not supplied Millions of tiny fat droplets are thought to damage the brains of most heart surgery patients - sonic waves may help

Right-wing governments 'increase suicide rates' URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8045344,1440/ Date: Not supplied Over the last century, an "extra" 35,000 suicides occurred under Tory rule in the UK - a similar effect is apparent in Australia

West Nile vaccine "in three years" URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8251867,1440/ Date: Not supplied A genetically engineered yellow fever vaccine shows promise in animal tests - if fast-tracked it could soon be available for humans

Lander risks missing Mars trip URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8052859,1440/ Date: Not supplied British scientists vow to have their robotic probe ready for launch in 2003, amid concerns over the project's finances

Transparent token is cryptographic key URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-5,8086489,1440/ Date: Not supplied Shining a laser through a cheap, little disc can generate an immensely powerful secret code - they could be used to secure credit cards

Bright dust rings highlight Earth-like planets URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-1,8171675,1440/ Date: Not supplied Rings around distant stars betray small rocky planets, say astronomers, suggesting a census will soon be possible

Human-chimp DNA difference trebled URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-2,8182249,1440/ Date: Not supplied We are more unique than previously thought, according to new comparisons with the genetic code of our closest relatives

Earth's magnetic field 'boosts gravity' URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-0,8132228,1440/ Date: Not supplied The controversial claim could be evidence of hidden extra dimensions and help a 'theory of everything' fall into place

South Korea bans all human cloning URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8251866,1440/ Date: Not supplied New laws, prompted by earlier cloning claims, promise 10 years in jail for offenders - but the blanket ban angers scientists

Cosmic polarisation detected from South Pole URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8052857,1440/ Date: Not supplied The faint microwave afterglow of the Big Bang is polarised - the discovery should help probe the birth of the Universe

First direct estimate of hidden vCJD cases URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-5,8062538,1440/ Date: Not supplied Tests for the infectious agent in people without symptoms do not reduce the deaths predicted - larger studies are "urgently needed"

Oil set to be pumped from blazing ship URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-5,8086490,1440/ Date: Not supplied The cargo vessel ran aground off a World Heritage conservation site in South Africa - raging fires are hampering salvage attempts

West Nile virus endangers blood transfusions URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-5,8078047,1440/ Date: Not supplied US officials have all but confirmed that the virus - which has killed 84 people - can be transmitted via donated blood

Supersonic test plane uses 'wing warping' URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-5,8081289,1440/ Date: Not supplied The US Air Force is set to test the steering and control technique first used during the Wright brothers' famous flight in 1903

California challenges US stem cell rules URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-1,8167824,1440/ Date: Not supplied It will be the only US state where medical researchers can use public funds to create embryos and extract stem cells

"Hidden tree" the secret of Zen garden URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8251865,1440/ Date: Not supplied A subconsciously perceptible pattern explains the mysterious appeal of a famous old Japanese garden, say researchers

US blueprint for smallpox mass-vaccination URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-1,8171676,1440/ Date: Not supplied Detailed guidelines for vaccinating all 288 million citizens within five days of an outbreak are being dispatched to every state

British dossier on Iraqi weapons released URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-2,8202806,1440/ Date: Not supplied It claims Iraq is ready to use chemical weapons and is pursuing long-range missiles, but it lacks dramatic new evidence likely to win over war sceptics

Balloon flight challenges deflate URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8251868,1440/ Date: Not supplied Technical problems beat a transatlantic record attempt, as the weather beats an altitude record attempt - for now

Mayan texts reveal superpower wars URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8045341,1440/ Date: Not supplied Gory hieroglyphs found on a Guatemalan pyramid support the idea of a superpower struggle at the civilisation's peak

Cloud of anti-atoms created URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-3,8015195,1440/ Date: Not supplied Researchers say they have made at least 50,000 atoms of cold antihydrogen - analysing them may reveal why antimatter is so rare

Priceless URL: http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/#85443744 Date: Not supplied I just finished reading an article about Mozilla[1] for Salon.com[2]. This excerpt was rather amusing. _It is a good question, because in almost every way, Mozilla is a better browser than Navigator. For example, Netscape's best new feature, tabbed browsing -- which lets you have several Web pages open in the same browser window, and allows you to bookmark all the pages under one name -- was in Mozilla many months ago, and the Mozilla project that created it (called MultiZilla) already has an improved version available. When asked about this, Yecies, of Netscape, said, "That's true, but the engineer who's working on it [for Mozilla] is a Netscape employee. It was always done with the intention of fostering general browsing usability for Netscape." _ Yes, ok, I suppose that's true if by "Netscape employee" you really meant "Apple employee." and by "always done with the intention of fostering general browsing usability for Netscape" you meant "was done in a weekend for Mozilla because I thought MultiZilla was cool." Here's how the whole tabbed browsing thing happened. One night I finally downloaded an extension called MultiZilla (go check it out on mozdev.org[3]. I was particularly impressed with a feature contained in MultiZilla called tabbed browsing. I started doing research and discovered NetCaptor[4], a tabbed browser that embedded WinIE. MultiZilla was cool but at the time suffered from two fundamental flaws that prevented the code from being incorporated into the Mozilla tree. The first was a UI flaw, namely that at the time it had ripped off NetCaptor down to the last context menu item. The GUI was similar enough that there would have been definite concerns about so obviously copying some of NetCaptor's more obscure capabilities (like sticky names and tab locking). The second concern was that the tab behavior wasn't encapsulated cleanly into a widget. I produced a simplified version of tabbed browsing on my own time (did it in a weekend) that removed some of the geekier NetCaptor features and that encapsulated the tab behavior so that the changes to other Navigator files would be minimal. Once I established that it didn't degrade performance in the single tab case, I checked it in as an experiment. The response was overwhelming, as were the bugs that started being filed. So much so that at first I wanted to back tabbed browsing out of the tree. I was overruled by Mozilla, which turned out to be a good thing for all I think. :) Even with all the excitement and hoopla surrounding the advent of tabbed browsing on the engineering side (and in the Mozilla community), Netscape still didn't get it. Netscape marketing prioritized all sorts of useless work that nobody had even started above tabbed browsing in their marketing document. They continued to do so for months, simply not getting it. It was this odd curiosity that one of their engineers had checked in, and they didn't know what to make of it. Only after the press raved about it did Netscape really jump on board. I'm sure Netscape is doing the same thing now with popup blocking. Can't you just see it now? We'll have a Popup Manager, and a Manager to manage the Popup Manager, and twenty-seven preferences for fine-grained control of all aspects of popups. Can you believe how disfunctional Netscape is? When their engineers say "you should do this" or "you should do that", they get completely ignored (or blown off), but when CNet says "We didn't like this, or we didn't like that.", Netscape scurries to meet their demands. That is simply pathetic. [1] http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/09/10/browser_wars/ [2] http://www.salon.com [3] http://www.mozdev.org [4] http://www.netcaptor.com

Black entrepreneurs 'face bank bias' URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8276087,215/ Date: 2002-09-26T13:42:57+01:00 *Business:* Black entrepreneurs face more problems in raising money for start-ups than white or Asian counterparts, new report says.

Radio gives mighty roar to quiet cars URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-6,8106968,1440/ Date: Not supplied A patented system allows drivers of hushed modern vehicles to enjoy the throaty engine sounds of classic cars, all in synch with your driving

I have the power! URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000190.html Date: 2002-09-25T22:21:15-08:00 So, I called the power company promptly at 8am to find out what they were smoking. The allowed me to pay by credit card so that I could get reactivated today (and pay a $40 "reconnection fee" for the privilege)....

New Blog Category: Yahoo URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000191.html Date: 2002-09-25T22:31:04-08:00 I've added a new blog category: Yahoo. Why? Because occasionally I post stuff about work, so I might as well categorize. Plus, some private e-mail has convinced me that it might be a good idea. (You know who you are....

Teen dies of starvation after stepfather puts him on a bus and URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8268029,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T08:22:40+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/azcentral.gif ([AZCentral])]

A man, a can, and a plan. Recipes for loser single guys URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8260638,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T02:16:24+01:00 (Some Comic Book Guy)

Y! Finance RSS Feeds Update URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000193.html Date: 2002-09-25T22:51:45-08:00 First of all, thanks for all the great feedback. I see that a lot of folks are pulling it now. I'm working on some stats. It'll be interesting to see which stocks bloggers tend to watch, which aggregators they use,...

"I read that yesterday..." URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000194.html Date: 2002-09-25T22:56:08-08:00 Matt describes something I've been experiencing a lot recently: You know you read too many primary sources when you read an article on slashdot and think, "I read that yesterday." Yeah, ever since I got into weblogs. I don't rely...

You can't beat city hall URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8260640,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T02:16:22+01:00 (Arizona Republic)

Congradulate Birthday Boy Putin. Link to send birthday wishes via URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8259315,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T01:15:07+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/pravda.gif ([Pravda])]

Month by month, 'Most Beautiful Man' winners and their galleries. sfw URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8259314,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T01:15:08+01:00 (me)

Friends don't let friends swim drunk. Paging Dr. Darwin.. URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8272607,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T11:26:11+01:00 (NY Daily News)

Play by Play: Effective Memory Management URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-6,6503039,159/ Date: 2002-08-03T08:11:17+01:00 Back when 64KB was more memory than any computer would ever need, there was a time when memory managers didn�t exist. But gradually, new computer systems came out with larger amounts of memory and designers discovered ways to eat up RAM faster than any system could dish it out. This discussion is based on Tiburon's experiences in writing and rewriting the memory manager for Madden NFL 97 to Madden NFL 2002.

Archaeological finds show that the Incas rode dinosaurs, science URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8279315,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T15:30:15+01:00 (creationists.org)

GDC 2002: Game Scripting in Python URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,7132396,159/ Date: 2002-08-22T03:21:04+01:00 Scripting languages allow rapid development of game behavior without the pitfalls that await the unwary C++ programmer. Using an existing scripting language saves the time and cost of developing a custom language, and typically gives you a far more powerful language than you could create on your own. Python is an excellent choice for a game scripting language because it is powerful, easily embedded, can seamlessly be extended with C/C++ code

Condemned man picks a black olive for his last meal. Green olives URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/click/-4,8272608,1717/ Date: 2002-09-26T11:26:10+01:00 [IMG: http://www.newsisfree.com/Images/fark/cleveland.gif ([Cleveland])]